


Rue That Moment

by orphan_account



Category: The Hunger Games
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-09
Updated: 2016-10-19
Packaged: 2018-07-14 03:16:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7150823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the spear intended for Rue misses and kills Katniss Everdeen, Rue must find the courage to become a fighter in the Hunger Games so she can win and make it back home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The net's densely woven fibers are rough. They dig into my arms, but I barely notice as I gaze, terrified, at my captor. The boy from District One sneers at me.  
"What are you waiting for?" I choke out. He smirks at me. "Your ally. District 12. I want her to see you die."  
No. That won't happen, that would scar Katniss deeper than that spear hitting her leg.  
I whistle my birdcall, but backwards, so she'll know something's wrong. So she'll approach with care.  
District One's face melts into a mask of confusion. "No more noise!" he snaps.  
I shrink into a ball. I've never liked being yelled at. Back at home, in District 11, when you climb trees and pick fruit, the Supervisors yell if you do anything they don't like. If you're yelled at constantly, you get whipped, with the other children forced to watch.  
Just then, my backwards-birdcall comes from a tree to my left. I turn my head to the right, like I've seen something, and tell, "KATNISS!"  
The boy's not fooled. He swivels on one foot to the left, a spear at the ready. His eyes narrow, watching the trees. What he sees too late is the arrow headed for his neck.  
His aim is still true, though, and he launches his spear as her arrow drives into his neck.  
"Katniss!" I scream, ripping my knife from my belt and cutting myself free of the net. I spring up and run to her side. Her breathing has shallowed and her eyes are wide open. The spear has lodged itself in her gut. I can't fix this. No one could. All I can do is stay with her, with Katniss Everdeen, Girl on Fire, as she dies.  
As soon as the hovercraft pulls her limp body away, I stumble to my feet and run to the boy. I grabbed Katniss's bow and her pack, and it's slowing me down. But I still manage to yank his bag out from under him before the cruel metal claw carries him up into the sky.  
I watch it go, then slowly spin and start walking out of the blood-stained clearing. As I do, I start humming, trying to find Katniss's notes.  
High, higher, low, lower. That's Katniss's song. I whistle it aloud, and a sharp wave of pain hits me, like someone punched me in the gut.  
I have to stop, rest and block all this out of my head. I start running, weaving my way through the trees until I reach the stream. There I discover a small cave. I don't think any other tributes would be able to fit in, the entrance is so small. I wiggle through, dump the bow and the three packs on the ground, and curl up in the cold stone, too tired to do anything else.  
My first dream that night is Katniss, in a tree, teaching me how to talk to mockingjays.


	2. Chapter 2

It's the cannon that wakes me, loud and harsh. I jerk up with a start, surprised. Why am I in a cave? Where's Katniss?   
Then the flood of memories hits me. I don't have time to keep myself from drowning in it, so I press my face to a hole in the cave ceiling as the anthem sounds.   
The anthem. How long have I been asleep? I left the clearing at noon, I think, but the moon is high in the sky now. As the anthem stops, pictures of the dead tributes appear. It's the boy from One and Katniss.   
Seeing her face again makes me want to cry. Instead, I raise my head and whistle out Katniss's song.   
"Who's there?" A sharp girl's voice hisses above my head. I duck down and crawl to the back of the cave. I'm scrunched into a little ball so she/they won't see me. I can't pull the packs and Katniss's bow over, though, I'm not strong enough to do it quietly.   
I start a list in my head. There's not many tributes left, actually: both from 2, the girl from 5, Thresh and me, Peeta.   
So it's either Clove or Foxface, Katniss's name for 5.   
I dare to wriggle back to my crack and peek out. I catch a glimpse of firey red hair, whipping from side to side as Foxface looks-for me- in the trees. She's my size, though, and she has no weapons, not even a pack.   
Before I know what I'm doing, I call "In here!"  
She hears and presses her face to my crack. I scuttle backwards a bit so that if she does have a hidden knife, she can't get to me.   
"Rue? Is that you?" She asks in a low voice.   
She knows my name. "Yeah..."   
"Can I come in?"   
Well, if she kills me, at least I'll be with Katniss again.   
"The entrance is by the creek." I murmur. I grab the bags and the bow and drag them to a shadowy corner of the cave, in case this is a robbery. I sit in front of them, to make it harder for her to see.   
Her bright red hair is the first thing I see. She's wiggling in.  
What did I do?  
She's all the way in now. She looks at me. I look at her.   
"What do you want?" ("What are you waiting for?")  
"I want you as my ally." she says. ("Your ally. 12. I want her to see you die.")  
I sit there, stunned. "The last time I had an ally it didn't end so well."   
Foxface nods sympatheticly. "I heard about 12 dying."  
"Katniss! Her name is Katniss! I don't even know your name!"  
Foxface looks at the ground. "I'm sorry. And Finch. My name is Finch."  
I'm mulling it over. This kind of ally is temporary, but she has nothing, and Katniss told me how smart she was.   
"I guess, ally."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rue answers her new ally start gathering data.

Rue crept toward a tree. Green leaves crowded her vision, cutting out the massive figure of Cato in the clearing. 

Up in the trees, she was safe. Cato used a sword; Katniss was the only tribute to have a bow, besides Glimmer, who was dead. 

But Rue wasn't in a tree- not yet. 

That required a lot more stealth than Finch could muster. So while Finch tracked down Clove, Rue was stuck with this giant. 

Cato's back was turned. Perfect. The tree was only three feet away-

"Who's there?" Cato whipped around, yanking his sword from his belt. 

Oops.

Rue scampered forward, and, hugging the tree, clambered as fast as she could. 

"Clove? What are doing?"

He thought she was Clove!

She dared not talk; he would know who she was instantly. Rue internally cursed her high, thin voice. 

She was hidden well enough in the leaves, but if she didn't talk, then he would get suspicious and come looking. 

Rue stood and fled. She didn't care she'd given away her identity. She didn't care. She'd gotten enough information. 

Cato's bellowing faded in the distant behind her, being replaced by birdsong. Normal sounds of a forest. Only this forest has been artificially created, the perfect setting for the Games. 

The tall hill of their base camp came into view, surrounded by the river and hidden by trees. Finch had said the fireballs had nearly singed her arm off here, but they'd used mud and clay to (hopefully) prevent any more fireballs. 

Rue reached the last tree and jumped down. She crawled under the hole in the hill into the large natural opening they'd found. 

Inside she found Finch kneeling over an unconscious body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry! I promised a long one, and it's been ages since last update! I'm so so so sorry you guys!
> 
> And it's short for a reason- I felt that if I went on it wouldn't be as good :-/
> 
> Thank you for being so patient!

**Author's Note:**

> My favorite character in the Hunger Games is Rue, and I've always wondered why there's only a few fics about her living past the dreadful moment in the book when she's hit by the spear. Please, guys, comment or bookmark if your like it because your support means the world to me. Thanks!


End file.
